William Reilly, Enviance board member, offered Obama advice
in a letter to his transition team this week. Noting the three major energy and
environmental challenges, including Americas expensive dependence on oil,
public health threats from poor air quality and climate change issues, he,
along with former U.S. administrator Ruckelshaus, proposed that Obama put the current
Clean Air laws to work.
"Over the course of the first year of your
administration, we urge you to put the nation's clean air laws and other
appropriate authority to work to cut global warming pollution and help deliver
dramatic reductions in oil use," the former administrators said.
Ruckelshaus was EPA's first administrator from 1970 to 1973
under President Richard Nixon, then returned in 1983. Reilly served as
administrator under President George H.W. Bush.
Reilly and Ruckelshaus also said EPA should work with
Congress on an economywide legislative approach to address global warming. They
urged the agency to proceed with regulations to limit greenhouse gas emissions
from transportation, including finalizing standards for emissions from motor
vehicle tailpipes and fuels and beginning a rulemaking for regulating emissions
from the aviation and shipping sectors.
They went on to say that fairly quickly, Obama should grant
California a waiver for imposing stricter state limits on automobile emissions
and make an endangerment finding for carbon dioxide emissions under the Clean
Air Act, the former administrators said. The current EPA administrator, Stephen
Johnson, denied California's waiver request last year, and the agency has
stalled on regulating greenhouse gases despite a 2007 Supreme Court decision
giving it authority to do so.
In related news, the National Association of Clean Air
Agencies (NACAA) this week presented the transition team with a blueprint for
tackling air pollution. The plan centers on addressing global warming,
reversing "ill-advised regulatory and policy actions," and boosting
financial and technical assistance to state and local air agencies.
Great to see our good friend William Reilly involved in this
very important issue. Letter: December 17, 2008 President-Elect Obama
Obama-Biden Transition Project
451 6th St, NW
Washington, DC 20530
Obama for America
P.O. Box 8102
Chicago, IL 60680 Re: Immediate action on climate change and energy security Dear President-Elect Obama: As you are well aware, our nation has been struggling with three major related energy and environmental challenges: our expensive and dangerous dependence on oil, public health threats from poor air quality, and the growing impacts of climate change. Based on our experience as former EPA Administrators and in the private sector, we are writing to encourage your administration to employ existing tools to begin immediately addressing these challenges. Over the course of the first year of your Administration, we urge you to put the nation’s clean air laws and other appropriate authority to work to cut global warming pollution and help deliver dramatic reductions in oil use. These actions can complement congressional activities as well as the activities of states. Quick action will provide climate and energy security, protect public health, and revitalize our economy. The Clean Air Act is flexible and well suited to address global warming pollution from the transportation sector: • These laws are tested and proven, having cost-effectively reduced toxic and smog forming pollution from individual vehicles by more than 90% over the past four decades.
• They provide a clear path for California and other states to play key roles in moving the nation forward on climate change and transportation.
• They can address both vehicles and fuels, allowing the transportation sector to be treated as a system, instead of in piecemeal fashion.
• Unlike policies directed solely at energy, which could increase global warming pollution in the name of addressing oil dependency, a climate focus will deliver both emissions
reductions and energy security. Below we recommend actions your Administration can take during your first year in office to jumpstart progress on finding a comprehensive solution to solving our nation’s climate and
energy crisis. They do not represent all the actions needed to solve these problems, but they are the first steps. 1. IMMEDIATE ACTIONS: • Direct EPA to grant the California waiver to allow California to enforce its own flexible, fleetwide standards for vehicle emissions of greenhouse gases.
• Direct EPA to move forward with the “endangerment” determination, consistent with the Supreme Court’s decision in Massachusetts v. EPA and the scientific consensus that greenhouse gases “endanger” both human health and welfare.
• Direct EPA to use existing authority to propose global warming pollution standards for cars and trucks that are at least equivalent to those approved under the California waiver and continue past 2016. 2. THE FIRST YEAR: • Direct EPA to finalize global warming pollution standards for vehicles and fuels within one year, there should be no reason for delay.
• Direct EPA to begin rulemaking process for medium and heavy duty vehicle global warming pollution standards using EPA’s flexibility under the clean air act and coordinated with DOT.
• Direct EPA to use existing authority to propose global warming pollution standards for all transportation fuels based on rigorous lifecycle analysis.
• Direct EPA to start rulemaking process for global warming pollution standards for aviation and shipping.
• Initiate efforts to support alternatives to driving, such as transit, walking, biking,telecommuting, and carpooling in cooperation with Congress, states and local governments. The actions described above are just a start. EPA should also identify measures to address stationary source emissions through existing authority, in addition to working with Congress on legislative approaches to broadly address global warming pollution throughout the economy. We also recognize the need to integrate these actions with the significant reinvestment efforts targeted at revitalizing the domestic transportation sector. Our nation stands to gain much if you put this blueprint to work. Your leadership can help avoid the worst impacts of climate change and create energy security while ultimately saving American families money in the shift to energy efficient and renewable technologies. Respectfully, William K. Reilly
EPA Administrator 1989-93 William D. Ruckelshaus
EPA Administrator 1970-73, 1983-85
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